Presentations on Reform of Water and Electricity Regulatory Systems in Caribbean and Pacific Small Island States

 presentation  Comments Off on Presentations on Reform of Water and Electricity Regulatory Systems in Caribbean and Pacific Small Island States
Mar 252014
 

Just gave these two presentations here at the Pacific and Caribbean  Conference on Effective and Sustainable Regulation of Energy and Water Services organized by ADB and SPC in Nadi, Fiji:

ADB_logoSPC_logoCaribbean Energy and Water Policies: An Overview of 8 Case Studies
This presentation gives an overview of key preliminary findings from an examination of water and energy regulations and regulatory structures in Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, and St. Lucia.

Statutes and Regulation: The Low-Discretion Model of Saint Lucia
Like many small-island developing states, one of the major regulatory challenges facing Saint Lucia is how to regulate effectively with limited financial and human resources. Its experience with a Low-Discretion Model provides important insights.

I would like to thank my whole team at Worldwatch for contributing to, and particularly Evan Musolino and Katie Auth for taking the lead on, preparing these two presentations.

US Electrical Energy Production Ripping US Water Supply

 newspaper interview  Comments Off on US Electrical Energy Production Ripping US Water Supply
May 172012
 

The Emergency Email & Wireless Network, http://www.emergencyemail.org/newsemergency/anmviewer.asp?a=1686&z=34

Scientists, climatologists and energy experts share a growing concern: the need for water in the production of energy, especially in regions that are experiencing serious drought. Generating power – whether it be from fossil fuels or renewable energy sources – requires large amounts of water. How are the nation’s energy producers are facing this challenge?

Water is also used to cool fuel rods at nuclear plants and to generate steam to power turbines. The biofuel industry needs water for irrigation, fermentation and the production of ethanol and biodiesel fuels.

Alexander Ochs, director of climate and energy at the Worldwatch Institute, says that adds up to a lot of water. “Per megawatt hour, coal uses 500 to 1000 gallons of water for the production of just one megawatt hour of electricity,” said Ochs. “If we look at all the plants combined in the U.S., all the thermo-electric plants [powered by steam] in the US in 2008 alone, they drew 60 billion to 170 billion gallons of water, per year.”

Without water, most types of energy could not be produced. Even renewable energy, like geothermal and solar, use water to cool equipment and to clean the collector panels. Those requirements have led California, Massachusetts and several Midwestern states to halt the operations of some power plants.

“Places like the Midwest where water is a very scarce resource already today, a number of power plants have actually been halted, and this is actually true for across the United States,” said Ochs. (…)

[Please find the full article HERE]

Sản xuất năng lượng phải đối phó với tình trạng khan hiếm nước

 online interview, tv interview  Comments Off on Sản xuất năng lượng phải đối phó với tình trạng khan hiếm nước
Mar 212012
 

Zulima Palacio, 21.03.2012 20:00 

Gần như mọi hình thức sản xuất năng lượng đều cần tới những khối lượng nước rất lớn. Chẳng hạn như than, giúp sản xuất 50% điện sử dụng tại Mỹ, cần có nước để khai mỏ cũng như chuyên chở, và làm nguội hay làm trơn thiết bị. Nước cũng được sử dụng để làm nguội những thanh năng lượng tại các nhà máy hạt nhân và tạo hơi nước cho các tuốc bin điện. Công nghệ nhiên liệu sinh học thì cần nước để tưới tiêu, dùng cho tiến trình lên men và sản xuất ethanol cũng như các loại nhiên liệu diesel sinh học.

Ông Alexander Ochs, giám đốc về khí hậu và năng lượng tại viện Worldwatch, nói tất cả những chuyện này khiến người ta phải cần tới thật nhiều nước: “Cứ mỗi megawatt giờ, than dùng từ 500 tới 1.000 ga lông nước [1 ga lông tương đương với 3.785 lít], chỉ để sản xuất 1 megawatt giờ điện năng. Nếu chúng ta gộp tất cả các cơ xưởng tại Mỹ, tất cả các nhà máy nhiệt điện tại Mỹ chỉ trong năm 2008, thì những cơ xưởng đó cần từ 60 tỉ tới 170 tỉ ga lông nước mỗi năm.”

[Find the full article, in Vietnamese, HERE]

 

US Energy Production Facing Limits of Water Scarcity

 online interview  Comments Off on US Energy Production Facing Limits of Water Scarcity
Jan 082012
 

Zulima Palacio, Voice of America, January 08, 2012 7:00 PM

Scientists, climatologists and energy experts share a growing concern: the need for water in the production of energy, especially in regions that are experiencing serious drought.  Generating power – whether it be from fossil fuels or renewable energy sources – requires large amounts of water.

Nearly all forms of energy production use large amounts of water.  Coal, which generates nearly 50 percent of the electricity in the U.S., needs water for mining and transport, and to cool and lubricate equipment. Water is also used to cool fuel rods at nuclear plants and to generate steam to power  turbines. The biofuel industry needs water for irrigation, fermentation and the production of ethanol and biodiesel fuels.

Alexander Ochs, director of climate and energy at the Worldwatch Institute, says that adds up to a lot of water. “Per megawatt hour, coal uses 500 to 1000 gallons of water for the production of just one megawatt hour of electricity,” said Ochs. “If we look at all the plants combined in the U.S., all the thermo-electric plants [powered by steam] in the U.S. in 2008 alone, they drew 60 billion to 170 billion gallons of water, per year.”

Without water, most types of energy could not be produced. Even renewable energy, like geothermal and solar, use water to cool equipment and to clean the collector panels.  Those requirements have led California, Massachusetts and several Midwestern states to halt the operations of some power plants.“Places like the Midwest where water is a very scarce resource already today, a number of power plants have actually been halted, and this is actually true for across the United States,” said Ochs.

[please find the full article HERE]

Implications of a Low-Carbon Energy Transition for U.S. National Security

 academic article/report  Comments Off on Implications of a Low-Carbon Energy Transition for U.S. National Security
Aug 302010
 
Yttrium, a rare earth element
Yttrium, a rare earth element
Climate change and the secure supply of energy are among the biggest challenges of the twenty-first century. The problem is immense: While global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are still on the rise, they will have to be halved by the middle of this century in order to prevent the most dangerous effects of global warming. And while energy-related emissions are already responsible for the largest share of GHG emissions, global energy demand is estimated to rise by 50 percent or more between now and 2030.

Climate change and energy security can be seen as Siamese twins insofar as they can only be sustained with concern for one another: 80 percent of global energy supply is produced from fossil fuels which, in the United States, Europe, Japan and other important U.S. ally countries, are increasingly imported and therefore are at the core of their increasing energy dependence. The burning of fossil fuels also emits CO2, and energy-related CO2 emissions are responsible for about 60 percent of man-made climate change.

The security impacts of climate change and our dependence of fossil fuels have been much debated. It is in the national interest of the United States to address both issues vigorously. There has been little academic and political discussion, however, about the security impacts of a transition of our economy to one that is built on a low-carbon energy foundation. What are the foreseeable material input demands and what human capacities are needed for such a transition? This paper addresses these questions under a particular scenario in which the United States commits to GHG reductions as party to an international climate change agreement.
 

 [Please find the full version of this draft policy paper here. Comments are highly appreciated]